People change
by Tangy.Clem
Summary: In Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them we learnt that despite they're not together anymore, Newt is still in love (kind of) with Leta Lestrange. What happened between these two ?
1. Chapter 1

" _Reginold Lestrange cowardly beaten by five muggles... The complete story on page 5_ ".

Surprised not to receive any letters from Leta during Christmas break and worried about her absence at hogwarts, Newt walked in the great hall to the Slytherin table.  
"Hum... 'Scuse me, have you seen Leta lately?  
"Leta? She must be at St. Mungo's I guess." Stubby Bletchley replied.  
"S... St. Mungo's?" Newt mumbled, suddenly terrified by the mere mention of the Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.  
"You don't know? Orla, give him the Daily Prophet. "

Newt, trembling hands and dark eyes, catched the newspaper, and after reading the flashy title, he hurried to turn the pages to read the gloomy article. On a whole page, a journalist in a somewhat outdated style described the tragic event in its smallest detail. On December 20, just a few days after the begin of holidays, Reginold, Leta's younger brother, had gone for a walk in the neighboring village of the Family Manor. There, he had crossed the path of a group of young and drunk muggles. And then a fight started between the frail wizard of barely 14 years and the five solid peasants of North Yorkshire. There followed the sickening narrative of broken teeth and bones, bleeding and head trauma, the result of a cowardly outburst of useless violence. Hardly recovering his breath, Newt kept on reading. Reginold had spent several hours between life and death. He was no longer in a life-threatening condition now but the young teenager would keep, it was certain, significant long-term implications, including blindness, partial paralysis and large scars on his entire bruised body. The article ended by this terrible sentence: " _An incident of a racist nature beyond the shadow of a doubt, a sad tale of racial tensions still raging in the Muggle world..._ "

"Merlin's beard..."  
Newt closed his wet eyes, A _tight feeling_ in his _throat. He_ put it back the Daily Prophet on the table. Feeling far away from the _hustle and bustle around him_ , the young man was thinking about Reginold who have never done any harm to anyone but still ended up, heavily wounded on a hospital bed. He also thought about Leta. How did she feels by now? How frightened she must have been during those long hours when she had believed her little brother was lost forever... How much she must had felt alone through these past days... And her 18th birthday which was, like a blow of cruel fate, on December 25. Thinking that he hadn't been there for Leta... That was that which crushed the young man the most : Knowing that he hadn't been there when Leta needed him the most.

As he turned suddenly to go to the owlery, Newt saw the his girlfriend's slender silhouette at the entrance of the great hall. Biting his lips, _He rushed_ over to the large entry door.  
The young woman's caramel skin had turned pale and looked tired, her eyes were swollen and her cheeks were emaciated. Reaching her, Newt took Leta in his arms, without troubling himself, for once, with curious glances surrounding them.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry..." He whispered softly in her ear.  
Leta didn't say anything and tighten their embrace. She snuggled into Newt's arms as to avoid collapsing. The young woman inhaled the smell of her lover, a mixture of delicate musk and raw leather, a smell she knew so well. She missed him so much. Newt put his lips on her forehead, and suddenly, too conscious of the crowd around them, he took Leta's hand with gentleness and went out. The path taken by Newt didn't surprise the young woman, actually she knew exactly where he was leading her. On seventh floor of the castle, the couple, still quiet, walked through a few corridors before stopping in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. The Room of Requirement opened on a large colored blanket fort. The floor was covered with thick mattresses on which were scattered many covers with different textures and several pillows, dozens of small candles floated in the air. Newt sat down and hugged Leta who curled up into a fetal position on his knees.

"I learned what happened just now... How's your brother?" He asked after a few moments of deep silence.  
"He's still in the hospital... He... " The young woman's voice cracked. "It... It hurts so bad to see him like that..." Newt pressed _her_ body more firmly in his arms.  
"I... I told him not to go for a walk there... He... he didn't think..." Leta sobbed, unable to finish her sentence.  
"You can cry, don't worry, I'm here..." The young man whispered, knowing well that he was offering her the possibility, for the first time in days, to leave her sorrow drift away with confidence.  
The couple remained a long moment without moving, the silence only interrupted by Leta's sobs and Newt's rough breath. When the young woman calmed down a bit, Newt pulled back a little, encircled her face with his hands and placed a slight kiss on the corner of her salty lips then pressed his forehead against her.  
"I read the article... It was because of his skin's colour..." He whispered in a breath. At these words, Newt saw a veil of hatred covering Leta's dark retinas.  
"I do not want to talk about it now." She answered, lowering her eyes.  
"You know, there's...  
-Newt." She interrupted, locking her serious gaze in the bright eyes of the young man.  
He would have wanted to tell her that all men weren't like those five ignorants, that not all muggles were dangerous fools. He would have wanted to tell her not to lose hope, that the world wasn't as cruel as it seemed.  
"Kiss Me..."

The young man kissed Leta's lips softly, then he lay down and the young woman put her head against his heart. The couple remained embraced for nearly an hour, without worrying about what could happen outside or about the torments that awaited them...


	2. Chapter 2

A few days later, at lunchtime, Newt was surprised again not to see Leta in the great hall. Since almost seven years, they used to eat together, the _last days_ were _no exception,_ the young woman needing Newt beside her a lot. He might have thought she needed to spend some time alone but a pre-feeling pushed him to look for her. In his mind, he made a quick inventory of all the places where Leta could be. He opted for the outskirts of the great lake: It was a cold but sunny day, perfect weather to take a breath of fresh air in the park. Newt wasn't mistaken; He found the young woman sitting on a large stone facing the lake on the edge of the forbidden forest. Wrapped up in a warm winter cloak, her face was half covered by a large Slytherin-colored scarf. She was playing with her wand, making fly small stones all around her. As he approached, the young man noticed that she had the dark look of the bad days, furrowed brows and clenched teeth.

"I... I Can stay or you want a little alone time?"  
"No no, you can stay." She answered, pressing herself to make a small place on the rock for him. Newt sat down, close to her, staring into the dark waters of the great lake.  
"I read the Daily Prohet this morning." Leta explained, clouds of steam escaping from her cracked lips thanks to the dry cold air of this month of January. "The five muggles won't be disturbed about what they did to Reg'."  
These past few days the young couple carefully avoided this thorny subject. Instantly, Newt's body stiffened and his pulse sped up.  
"That's... It's unfair." He said in a breath.  
"These fucking muggles will be able to continue to drink all their wretched wage at the local pub while my brother is half dead."  
The young man made no reply, contenting himself with looking down at his hands, playing nervously with his wand.  
"They'll pay for this someday..." Leta murmured threateningly.  
"They..." The young man began, before being interrupted by his girlfriend's peremptory tone.  
"Yes? Go ahead, say it." The young woman had dropped the small pebbles all around them and turned herself to Newt to look at him with a hard cold look.  
"You know what I'm going to say Leta...  
-Tell me anyway!"

The young womand had always been a better speaker than Newt and verbal jousting with her was a lost fight for him, he knew it. But did he really have a choice this time?  
"They're not all like that... Muggles."  
Letting her anger burst, Leta rose abruptly, small sparks gushing from her wand.  
"How can you say that?! You do not know them!" She cried.  
"I...  
-Do you know a single Muggle?!  
-N... No but...  
"I met them more than you, believe me, muggles are all the same!" Leta now paced like a caged lioness between the rock and the lakeshore. "Beating a boy because of his skin's colour... They're all ready to do that! I also received threats in this village, we can't walk quiet without being assaulted!  
-Ignorance it is."  
\- Oh ignorance?! Ah yes, then in addition to being cruel, they are stupid.  
-Don't assume everyone else is in the same boat... You are doing exactly what you say you hate about them..." Newt replied, still sitting on the rock, watching Leta struggling between her fears and grudges.  
"But they're all the same! Look what they are doing in France! They kill each other in mud like animals! Oh no, sorry, even rats are smarter and more human than them..."

The young man felt a sudden throat tightness, Leta's words sounding so hard to him and, above all, totally inadequate with the love he felt for her.  
"So...  
-It's in their genes, in their ...  
-Let me talk!" Newt shouted, unable to bear one more of the horrors sung by Leta. "So what do you think we should do? Do you have a solution?"  
"I'm just sick and tired of hidding, Newt.I have had enough of staying at the bottom of an old manor while I could silence a hundred of these muggles with a single wand.  
"You're angry and I understand, it's..."  
"No you don't understand! You..."

Leta broke off, her eyes suddenly fixed on a point behind Newt, in the forest. The young man followed his look and turned. A few meters away, a young boy, probably a 1st or 2nd year, with a red and gold robe, enjoyed himself by levitating a small Pygmy Puff. He raised it to meters above the ground and then jostled it in all directions at a bewildering speed. The poor creature, visibly frightened, was shrieking and struggled.  
Newt cursed but, judging that his discussion with Leta was more important, turned to the latter. She, on the other hand, watched the scene with dark eyes, a look almost crazy that Newt had never known before.  
"Let it go," Newt whispered, frightened to see these new features on his girlfriend's face. In spite of the young man's words, Leta rushed to the young gryffondor and his flying Pygmy Puff. Newt followed her closely. Arriving close to the boy, the Slytherin waved her wand in the air and with a loose and beautiful gesture rests the little creature on the ground, on a moss carpet. She approached a little more of the student, a head taller than him, she looked at him with a glare as cold as ice. The boy, caught off guard, watched her walking, impressed by her intimidating presence.

"What's your name?" Leta asked. Newt, worried, stood behind her.  
"Arthur Dingle. Why?" The boy replied, trying to regain some composure.  
"Did you enjoy doing this Arthur?" Leta continued on an icy tone.  
"It's my Pygmy Puff, I do what I want." Dingle barked, defending himself as a child caught with his hands in the cookie jar.  
After a brief moment of tense silence, Leta spoke again.  
"What is your blood status?"  
Newt, who till then, contented himself with biting his lower lip with a scowl, turned his head towards his girlfriend, wide-eyed.  
"Leta, what are you doing?"

The young woman pretended she had not heard him and kept her focus on the Gryffondor boy.  
"Answer!" She ordered him in a grave and threatening voice.  
"Mu... Muggle born."  
A cold sweat filled Newt's neck and back. He watched Leta's face and detected a bad grin on her lips.  
"That doesn't surprise me, Dingle." The young woman replied.  
"Leta, stop that ..." Newt murmured as he approached her. The latter, annoyed, pushed him violently with one hand on his chest.  
"Leave me be! You are not going to dictate my conduct!" Leta shouted, tears of anger forming over her long lashes. "Stay there." She intimated to the young Gryffondor who pretended to leave. Tired of waiting for the boy to return to her side, the young woman, with her wand, made him levitate and rested brutally at her feet.  
"Your behavior only confirms the stupidity of your fellows ..." Leta said in a clear voice with cruel accents. "I would be lying if I said that what I'm about to do to you doesn't give me a certain feeling of pleasure..."

A heavy silence fell on the three teenagers. Newt, who stood a little behind, kept his eyes fixed on Leta, his face marked by fear. He was getting ready to catch his breath, thinking that the young woman had perhaps calmed down when he saw her put a hand in one of the large pockets of her cloak. From Leta's thin fingers hanged a colored thread at the end of which a sort of blue-green cocoon was swinging. Newt, recognizing the thing immediately, rushed upon the young woman.

"Leta! No!"

Reaching about twenty centimeters from the young woman and as he was preparing to fall on her to remove the cocoon from her hands, Newt collided violently on a wall of air. Leta did an unformulated shield charm that forced the young man to transform into a mere helpless spectator of the terrible scene that unfolded in front of his eyes.

Leta, the look still dangerously frosty, threw the little cocoon into the air. A majestic Swooping Evil came out. The flying reptile similar of a gigantic butterfly, flew away and made a few loops in the air before pouncing at the young Gryffindor, remained motionless, paralyzed with terror.  
"Stop! Leta, please!" Newt, glued to the shield, was praying for his girlfriend to hear him.  
The creature rested on the boy's face and completely covered him with its large blue wings. A sickening sucking sound was then heard barely covered by Arthur's groans. Leta's smile faded away, a terrible concentration taking precedence over everything else. Newt, on the other hand, knowing full well that Swooping Evils were known, among others, to have the capacity to suck their victim's brains, had to refrain from vomiting.  
"Let'... Please! This is madness!"  
A minute passed.  
"Stop! He did nothing!"  
Then two.  
"Leta!"

A third minute was about to pass when a little noise was heard in the distance. Newt turned his head and saw Professor Merrythought running slowly in their direction. At the same moment, the shield charm made by Leta broke. In one leap, Newt threw himself on the young woman who stumbled, took the Swooping Evil's cord from her hands, and tore it from its gloomy work. This done, the young man stopped for a moment of deep reflection. The Gryffindor boy was still on the ground, eyes rolled upwards, his body shaking with spasms. Leta, her knees in her arms, was in an altered state of mind. Rushed by the imminent arrival of the Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts, Newt Acted according to his instinct : With his wand, he used a stunning spell on the young woman and hid her in one of the nearby bushes. His choice was taken, he would take the blame for what Leta's done. With a bit of luck people would believe it was an accident... Very soon, Professor Merrythought reached the scene.

"What in the name of Merlin happened here?"  
"Pro... Professor, I'm sorry..." Newt stammered, his body still trembling.  
"Dingle!" Cried the old witch, kneeling beside the young boy. After a quick examination, she sent a colored explosion over the cyme tree, probably to call people capable of helping Arthur. "Scamander, explain yourself." She intimated, without looking away from Arthur.  
"I... I... My Swooping Evil escaped me and... and he attacked Arthur..." Newt explained with a weak voice.  
"A Swooping Evil?! How is it that you are in possession of such a dangerous creature?!  
-I... I didn't know that... That he was dangerous. I found him in a valley not for away from the Castle and...  
-Enough, I do not want to hear anything more! You will explain yourself to Headmistress Wilkins!"

A few minutes later, Newt was taken to the office of the Hogwarts Headmistress, the very rigorous Heliotrope Wilkins. For a long moment he was summoned to explain what had happened at the edge of the forest. Being careful not to mention Leta, he invented a story that he hoped credible enough to be believed. Having done this, the young man was taken to a small, cramped room, near the headmistress's office, where a long and painful wait began. Sitting on an old wooden bench, Newt, heard many loud voices from the office, recognizing, among all, the voice of Professor Dumbledore. At the end of what seemed like an eternity to him, Newt was called to regain the noble Wilkins office. As he entered the room, his eyes fell on his suitcase, his broomstick, and some of his belongings near the front door. Not surprisingly, the Headmistress told him that after many discussions, some stormers, his dismissal had been decided and that he had to leave the castle now, that his parents had been warned. Accepting the sanction, eyes lowered and heavy-hearted, Newt only regretted not being able to take a last walk in the Hogwarts corridors before leaving.

Newt walked slowly behind the gentle but rather simple-minded Mr. Picott, the caretaker

of the school. In the afternoon, the weather had get worst and small drops of rain came to punctuate the cold air of this early evening. The duo had almost arrived at theThe Main Entrance gates surmounted by the two winged boars when a female voice was heard.  
"Newt!"  
The young man turned around and his heart skipped a beat when he saw Leta advancing towards them with great strides. Few seconds later, the young woman had walked the hundred meters which kept them apart.  
"Newt... Newt, I'm so sorry..." she said, taking his hands in hers. She has drawn features and her eyes, once again, were swollen with too much crying. Newt bit his cheek to avoid bursting into tears and lowered his eyes.

"Er... Mr. Scamander..." Mr. Picott said. "You must go."  
Newt turned to the concierge, his hands still in his girlfriend's.  
"Mr. Picott, pl... Please. Can you give me thirty seconds?"  
"Ah! Uh... " the man Began to stammer, visibly terrified at the thought of failing in the important mission entrusted to him. "Good. Okay but then you go right?  
-Yes, Mr. Picott, thank you."  
Newt focused his attention on Leta.

"I'm so sorry, you didn't have to do that. I tried to go to Wilkins office but they didn't let me in. I... I wanted to explain to her that... That is wasn't you." The young woman sighed, squeezing Newt's hands and trying to keep her gaze in his, more fleeting than ever. "I tried to talk to all the professors, they didn't listen me. Oh, Newt, why did you do that?  
-Leta...  
"I swear I will do everything to clarify the situation, it's unfair.  
-Leta.  
\- I'll talk to Professor Dumbledore, my parents will hear about it, it cann't happen that way, you...  
-Leta, listen to me." Newt interrupted her gravely, looking at her for the first time in hours. "Are you sorry?"  
-Of course ! You shouldn't take the blame in my place, I should have stopped you!  
-No, no... I... I don't mind about that. Tell me you regret what you did to this boy.  
\- I... Newt.  
-Tell me." A tense silence settled again, the couple still eyes in their eyes, hands closely intertwined.  
Leta sighed and looked down. An attitude that reasoned like a stab in the guts of Newt. She couldn't say it, of course. She didn't regret it, it was crystal clear. Despite all his efforts, a large tear streamed down the young man's cheek.

"Then... It's over." He muttered in a hoarse, almost inaudible voice.  
"You... No, no, please!" Leta started to panic.  
"Leta, please, I have to go.  
-No, I need you ..."  
Newt let go of the young woman's hands, breaking his own heart in one billion small pieces. He began to turn around when Leta's words forced him to stop.  
"But... I... I love you..." She sighed.  
Newt could not help himself; he placed his hands the the cold cheeks of the young woman and kissed her lips. The last kiss.  
"I... I love you too much too, believe me..."

Then the young man, still in tears, summoned his last strength and walked away from Leta. With trembling footsteps and a blurry vision, he passed the gate, heard the young woman falling to the ground but prevented himself from glancing at her. The love story of Leta Lestrange and Newt Scamander had just ended, as unexpectedly as how she had begun.


End file.
